Korean J Hosp Palliat Care.
2017 Sep;20(3):188-193. 10.14475/kjhpc.2017.20.3.188.
Symptom Features of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients and Depression of Family Caregivers
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Family Medicine, Kyungpook National University Medical Center, Daegu, Korea.
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea.
- 3Department of Family Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea. spfe0211@hanmail.net
- 4Department of Family Medicine, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
- 5Department of Family Medicine, Catholic University St. Paul's Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
- 6Department of Family Medicine, Catholic University Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
- 7Department of Family Medicine, Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
- KMID: 2389538
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.14475/kjhpc.2017.20.3.188
Abstract
- PURPOSE
There has been very little study on the associations between patient's symptoms themselves and family caregiver (FC)'s depression in the palliative phase. This cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between symptom features of terminally ill cancer patients and their FC's depression.
METHODS
We performed a multicenter survey using the MD Anderson symptom inventory and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A total of 293 patient-FC pairs were recruited from seven tertiary medical centers. A multivariate regression analysis was applied for identifying the relevant factors associated with FC depression and for estimating adjusted depression score of FCs.
RESULTS
Among various psychosocial factors, low FC quality of life, low social support, spouse, and more caregiving time were significantly associated with FCs' depression. According to the presence of FCs' depression, there were significant differences in some symptom characteristics of patients. Even after adjusting for the relevant confounders, depression scores were lower in FCs caring for patients who had negative symptoms (loss of appetite, P=0.005; drowsiness, P=0.024; and dry mouth, P=0.043) than in FCs caring for patients who had not. FCs caring for patients with severe appetite loss had lower depression scores than those with not severe one (P=0.039).
CONCLUSION
Our result suggests that patient's symptom characteristics might be helpful when evaluating a FC's depression.
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